Lottery Winner Wants To Be A Priest

GO TO SOURCE KARNATAKA, INDIA, August 18, 2002: Lingappa, 45, a push-cart bhelpuri food vendor, lost most of his customers when new road construction changes were made in Bangalore three years ago. Bhelpuri is a popular dish made of puffed rice, chickpeas, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. Times were hard and his only consolation was buying lottery tickets — which…

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September 11 in History

Source: Hindu Press International KAUAI, HAWAII, August 19, 2002: As we approach the first anniversary of the September 11 attack upon America, other events of importance on this date are coming to light. The one closest to home was Hurricane Iniki, which devastated our small island of Kauai on this day in 1993. It broke the US Navy’s wind meter,…

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Houston Seminar Set for September

GO TO SOURCE HOUSTON, TEXAS, August 19, 2002: Educators in the greater Houston area are invited to attend “Learning about Hindu Culture and Values,” a free World Hindu Council (VHP)-Houston sponsored seminar. It will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2002, 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The location is a large, well-equipped meeting room, Days Inn-Rosenburg, 26010 Southwest Freeway, Rosenburg,…

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Confidence in Nepal’s Monarchy Returns

GO TO SOURCE KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 10, 2002: With the naming ceremony to commemorate the birth of another heir to the throne, spirits were high at the Narayanhity Royal Palace on Friday, August 9. Born to Crown Prince Paras and Crown Princess Himani, the new Prince Hridayendra will be second in line to the throne. Last year on June 1,…

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American Families Needed To Host Foreign Vegetarian Students

GO TO SOURCE USA, August 2002: Every year hundreds of vegetarian international high school students want to live with American families and attend American high schools for an academic year. To make this happen, AFS Intercultural Programs (formerly the American Field Service), a 55-year old, nonprofit organization, has to find families willing to host them for a school year. The…

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Tamil Nadu Temple Endowment Plan Expanded

GO TO SOURCE CHENNAI, INDIA, August 15, 2002: The annadhanam scheme, launched by Tamil Nadu government in March last year in 63 select temples in the state is being extended to 63 more temples from Thursday in view of its tremendous success. Philanthrophists who wish to contribute towards this scheme could create endowments for US$306 for temples of their choice.…

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Bindis Becoming Popular in Russia

GO TO SOURCE MOSCOW, RUSSIA, August 6, 2002: “Bindi iz Indii” (“Bindis from India”) are the new craze among young Russian girls. Bindis are being used as an element of body art along with pierced noses, tattoos and mehndi-dyed hands. Many girls display fancy bindis on their bellies, a thing unimaginable in Communist Russia where tight jeans, mini-skirts, hotpants and…

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Language Gene Is Traced to Emergence of Humans

GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, August 15, 2002: The study of the genomes of people and chimpanzees has yielded a deep insight into the origin of language, one of the most distinctive human attributes and a critical step in human evolution. The analysis indicates that language, on the evolutionary time scale, is a very recent development, having evolved…

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Drought Hits Finances of Gaya Priests

GO TO SOURCE GAYA, INDIA, August 11, 2002: The drought situation prevailing in several parts of the country, particularly Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, has made the “Gayawal pandas,” the traditional priests of the temples here, jittery. Drought is likely to affect the inflow of pilgrims during the pitripaksha, the fortnight-long festival of souls scheduled to begin in the…

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Villagers Plan Temple for God’s Elephant

GO TO SOURCE BALIGORADA, INDIA, August 10, 2002: Villagers here have decided to build a temple in honor of Laxmi, an elephant which died this week after suffering for about a fortnight. It turned out to be the last journey for Laxmi, the 45-year-old elephant which had come all the way from Varanasi to take part in Lord Jagannath’s Car…

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